Design Note DN0007

2.4 GHz Inverted F Antenna

By Audun Andersen

Keywords

CC2400
CC2420
CC2430
CC2431
CC2500
CC2510
CC2511

CC2550
CC2520
CC2480
PCB Antenna
2.4 GHz
Inverted F Antenna

Introduction

This document describes a PCB antenna

design that can be used with all 2.4 GHz
transceivers and transmitters from Texas
Instruments. Maximum gain is measured

to be +3.3 dB and overall size

requirements for this antenna are 25.7 x
7.5 mm. Thus, this is a compact, low cost
and high performance antenna.

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Table of Contents
KEYWORDS.............................................................................................................................. 1
1
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1
2
ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................................................... 2
3
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVERTED F ANTENNA DESIGN ......................................... 3
3.1
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INVERTED F ANTENNA .......................................................... 3
4
RESULTS........................................................................................................................ 4
4.1
RADIATION PATTERN .................................................................................................. 4
4.2
REFLECTION ............................................................................................................ 11
4.3
BANDWIDTH ............................................................................................................. 11
5
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 12
6
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................. 13
7
GENERAL INFORMATION .......................................................................................... 14
7.1
DOCUMENT HISTORY................................................................................................ 14

Abbreviations

CC2480
EM
IFA
ISM
PCB

Z-Accel ZigBee Processor

Evaluation Module
Inverted F Antenna
Industrial, Scientific, Medical
Printed Circuit Board

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3

Description of the Inverted F Antenna Design

Since the impedance of the Inverted F Antenna is matched directly to 50 ohm no external
matching components are needed.
3.1

Implementation of the Inverted F Antenna

It is important to make an exact copy of the antenna dimensions to obtain optimum

performance. The easiest approach to implement the antenna in a PCB CAD tool is to import
the antenna layout from either a gerber or DXF file. Such files are included in CC2430DB
reference design [1]. The gerber file is called Inverted_F_Antenna.spl and the DXF file is
called Inverted_F_Antenna.dxf. If the antenna is implemented on a PCB that is wider than
the antenna it is important to avoid placing components or having a ground plane close to the
end points of the antenna. If the CAD tool being used doesnt support import of gerber or DXF
files, Figure 1 and Table 1 can be used.

Figure 1. IFA Dimensions

H1
H2
H3
H4
H5
H6
H7
H8
H9
W1

5.70 mm
0.74 mm
1.29 mm
2.21 mm
0.66 mm
1.21 mm
0.80 mm
1.80 mm
0.61 mm
1.21 mm

W2
L1
L2
L3
L4
L5
L6
L7
L8

0.46 mm
25.58 mm
16.40 mm
2.18 mm
4.80 mm
1.00 mm
1.00 mm
3.20 mm
0.45 mm

Table 1. IFA Dimensions

Since there is no ground plane beneath the antenna, PCB thickness will have little effect on
the performance. The results presented in this design note are based on an antenna
implemented on a PCB with 1 mm thickness.

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4

Results

All results presented in this chapter are based on measurements performed with CC2430DB
[1].
4.1

Radiation Pattern

Figure 2 shows how to relate all the radiation patterns to the orientation of the antenna. The
radiation patterns were measured with CC2430 programmed to 0 dBm output power.

XZ plane

XY plane

YZ plane
Figure 2. How to Relate the Antenna to the Radiation Patterns

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Figure 3. XY Plane Vertical Polarization

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Figure 4. XY Plane Horizontal Polarization

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Figure 5. XZ Plane Vertical Polarization

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Figure 6. XZ Plane Horizontal Polarization

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Figure 7. YZ Plane Vertical Polarization

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Figure 8. YZ Plane Horizontal Polarization

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4.2

Reflection

Figure 9. Measured Reflection at the Feed Point of the Antenna

Figure 9 show that the IFA ensures less than 10 % reflection of the available power for a
bandwidth of more than 300 MHz. A large bandwidth makes the antenna less sensitive to
detuning due to plastic encapsulation or other objects in the vicinity of the antenna.

4.3

Bandwidth

Another way of measuring the bandwidth after the antenna is implemented on a PCB and
connected to a transmitter is to write test software that steps a carrier across the frequency
band of interest. By using the Max hold function on a spectrum analyzer the variation in
output power across frequency can easily be measured. Figure 10 shows how the output
power varies on the IFA when the PCB is horizontally oriented and the receiving antenna has
horizontal polarization. This measurement was not performed in an anechoic chamber thus
the graph shows only the relative variation for the given frequency band.

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Bandwidth IFA
2.4

2.4835

Relative output power [dB]

-10

-20
Output pow er
-30

Low er band edge

Upper band edge

-40

-50

-60
2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

Frequency [GHz]

Figure 10. Bandwidth of IFA

Conclusion

The PCB antenna presented in this document performs well for all frequencies in the 2.4 GHz
ISM band. Except for two narrow dips, the antenna has an omni directional radiation pattern
in the plane of the PCB. These properties will ensure stable performance regardless of
operating frequency and positioning of the antenna. Table 2 lists the most important
properties for the inverted F antenna.
Gain in XY Plane
Gain in XZ Plane
Gain in YZ Plane
Reflection
Antenna Size

1.1 dB
3.3 dB
1.6 dB
< -15 dB
25.7 x 7.5 mm

Table 2. Summery of the Properties of the IFA

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6

References

[1] CC2430DB Reference Design (swrr034.zip)

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7

General Information

7.1

Document History

Revision
SWRU120B
SWRU120A
SWRU120

Date
2008-04-04
2008-02-28
2007-04-16

Description/Changes
Renamed CCZACC06 to CC2480
Added reference to CCZACC06 and CC2520
Initial release.

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